Giuseppe Di Iorio, creativity and Mediterranean flavors at the Colosseum

It may be the proximity to the archaeological remains of the gladiatorial gymnasium, but it took a triple pike jump, with a twist, for Giuseppe Di Iorio to catapult himself, in just 3 years, into the firmament of starred chefs in Italy, making his kingdom , the Aroma, the point of reference for the chosen people of good Rome, artists, politicians, popular singers, footballers and even heads of state: even George Bush has passed through here.

Calabrian by birth, strongly linked to his land and to his first youthful approaches to the flavours, colors and scents of Calabrian cuisine and its raw materials, Giuseppe Di Iorio became 'culinarily' Roman by adoption, to the point that he transformed the its refined and exclusive restaurant in a sort of virtual journey through the marvels and gastronomic heritage of Rome and Lazio. But his vision also extends to the great scene of Mediterranean flavours. And among his merits one cannot ignore the fact that he has planted a banner of high gastronomy in an area where the catering was more in line with the hurried tastes of the high tourist rate than the dictates of Artusi.

So let's start from the local: a window on history that has no equal in the world. The 'Aroma' is in fact located on the terrace of Palazzo Manfredi, a seventeenth-century building, subject to subsequent alterations, which rises in the area that formerly housed four barracks for accommodation and gymnasiums where the gladiators who would fight in the Colosseum exercised, to which they were connected by an underground passage.

Climbing onto this terrace is heartbreaking, the Colosseum seems to touch it with your hand, and immediately behind you can see the Roman forums with the Basilica of Maxentius and in order not to miss anything, turning right, your gaze enjoys the panoramic view of Colle Oppio with the remains of Nero's Domus Aurea.

Di Iorio arrived here after a journey that took him from the hotel management school in Calabria to Rome to the Margutta restaurant, from here to London where he cut his teeth following his countryman Giuseppe Sestito, the first Italian chef to be called upon in the prestigious restaurant of the Hyde Park Hotel, then again in Rome in the haute cuisine hotel, from the Hotel England to the Parco dei Principi. In 2005 the big leap: he joins Giuseppe Sestito at the Mirabelle restaurant on the terrace of the Hotel Splendide Royal, and assists him as he wins a Michelin star. He also flies to France and the Amalfi coast.

But in 2013, when he learned that the owners of Palazzo Manfredi transformed from a private residence into a Boutique Hotel wanted to open a restaurant on that magical terrace, he threw himself headlong into the enterprise. With a rather daring challenge: the proximity of the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Domus Aurea they inspire him a project that cannot be more ambitious - and perhaps even ventured - more reckless: proposing a signature cuisine inspired by Rome and Lazio and the discovery of its food and wine jewels, however following the canons of its philosophy and culinary essence , made of creativity, passion, research, technique and respect for the raw material.

This is how hers take shape Mezzi Paccheri with monkfish, sun-dried tomatoes, salicornia and candied lemon, Ravioli with buffalo mozzarella and anchovies on Roman mixed salad cream, spaghetti with broccoli, colatura and beaten , Quail on field herb cream with borage honey and its few eggs, Mediterranean Caponatina with tacos sour cream and basil cream Redfish stew and gurnard with potato spheres and crunchy sea lettuce, Mustard-scented seared pigeon with its crunchy thigh and foie gras.

So it opens in 2013 and in two years the Michelin Guide rewards its foresight with a star. Because in this restaurant respect for the raw material, for the way it is treated, persuasively so that none of its original flavors are lost but also revisited in current forms, seeking the perfect balance between traditional models and new ideas, overlaps the respect for local products, the result of a personal research in which Di Iorio ventures in his free time breaks, "hunting for the gem that others don't have”. to explore aromas, sensations and flavors back in time that were thought to be lost. But there is also great respect for the client, who is asked for a dress code, but who is offered a sensory experience that has the meaning of a rediscovery.

And when you taste all of this while looking at the Colosseum, you truly perceive the impression of flying high, very high, above all on that Roman cuisine which only about twenty years ago found its testimonial in the macaroni of Alberto Sordi, or in the popular tables of the Fellini film.